


The Human Condition

by Acaeria



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Disability, Gen, idk kinda just a venty piece thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-06
Updated: 2016-09-06
Packaged: 2018-08-13 11:10:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7974700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Acaeria/pseuds/Acaeria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mabel Pines knew a lot of things, and Mabel Pines knew a lot of things about her brother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Human Condition

Mabel Pines knew a lot of things, and Mabel Pines knew a lot of things about her brother.

For example, she knew that he was two minutes younger than her, that he had a birthmark in the shape of the big dipper, that he  _ hated _ his real name, that he was obsessed with conspiracy theories and cryptids and all that creepy mystery stuff. She knew that he was shy, he was awkward, he liked to hide behind her in social situations and let her do the talking. She knew that he knew that she didn’t mind.

She knew that when he was born, he had a cord wrapped around his neck. She knew that his face had been blue, that he hadn’t breathed, not until the doctors had gotten him free. She knew that he’d been deprived of air, and that had left scars on his brain.

She didn’t pay it much mind, most of the time- he was Dipper, he was her brother, he was always been like that, it was just the way he is. She stood up for him when the other kids teased him for his limp, for his arm that he could never quite lower; she stood by him when he tried to train himself to move without those quirks. Told him that he didn’t have to, but supported him all the same, because he was her  _ brother _ , she was his  _ sister _ , it was what she had to do. She had to always be by his side when he needed her, because he would always be by hers when she needed him. 

Even when he scared her, she had to be there. Like when he freaked out if they drove too far away, if they were going someplace he’d never been. It hadn’t made any sense to Mabel at first, because Dipper loved stories about far-away places, but then her mother had sat her down and explained to her that it was part of his condition (and wasn’t that an awful word,  _ condition _ , like everything about her brother that made him unique and made him  _ him _ were just symptoms of some terrible disease). Sometimes Dipper seemed frustrated by it himself, frustrated that he couldn’t help it. On those long journeys, Mabel held him close while he cried, comforted him the best she could. Tried to make him see that even if they weren’t in familiar places, she would always be there for him. 

She would be there for him too, when he would ask questions, the same question, over and over again, to the point where she was so freaked out she couldn’t answer. Those were the times when she could only hold him close to her, and shake silently, not letting go even as he repeated, over and over again,

“Will I stop breathing?”

“Will I stop breathing?”   
“Will I stop breathing?”   
“How do you know?”

**Author's Note:**

> This piece is kind of a vent, but not really? I don't know. My little sister was born deprived of oxygen, which left scarring on her brain, which means she can't move the left side of her body properly and that she acts neuroatypically. I'm sure there's a name for this, but I don't know it- her parents only ever refer to it as her "condition", if they ever refer to it at all. The other week, it clicked in my mind that Dipper was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, and that he was probably deprived of oxygen too- that he might be like my little sister.
> 
> Mabel is a lot closer to Dipper than I am to my sister for many reasons, two of those being that she actually lives with him and there's only a few minutes between them, not seven years. I've never had to comfort my sister like Mabel does with Dipper here, and though I am scared for her sometimes, it doesn't scare me as much as it scares Mabel- again, closeness in age and proximity is the reason for that. I'm sure if I was younger, if I was closer, if I saw her more and was there when she needed help, not just once a week, I'd be scared for her just as much, too.
> 
> I don't know. I guess I'm just projecting again, haha. I love my sister a lot, and I love Dipper a lot, and I like the principle of them having something in common. And if that makes me the Mabel of our situation, well, I'm gonna try and make her as happy as I can. 
> 
> Thanks for reading.


End file.
